Everyone Is Important

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In this week's parsha, Vayakhel, we read how everyone gave donations for the construction of the Mishkan and its vessels, garments, etc. Everyone gave, men, women and even the children, and they gave much more than was necessary. 

There was also another donation given to the building of the Mishkan, the machatzis hashekel, the half shekel that went to make the sockets that were the foundation of the panels of the Mishkan. The machatzis hashekel had limitations as to who can give, only men from the age of 20 and up, and what they could give, a silver half shekel coin, no more and no less, "The rich person shouldn't add and the pauper shouldn't subtract from a half shekel." And even today, when we give the half shekel, only adults give it, children don't, we give for them, but it is adults that give for the children, the children themselves don't give. 

However, when it came to the regular donations to the Mishkan, there were no limitations as to how much one can give, every person gave what he or she felt like giving, or to who could give, men, women and children gave, and as a matter of fact, the woman gave first, before the men. The women also gave things that the men couldn't, as the women knew how to spin the goat hair while it was on the animal, which was necessary for the Mishkan. 

Like the half shekel, the donations to the Mishkan were an atonement for the sin of the golden calf. Because the Mishkan was constructed after the sin, and Hashem was saying that He would dwell amongst the Jewish people and He would forgive them. And where would His presence dwell? In the Mishkan. So all the donations and the construction were part of the atonement. 

Women and children weren't involved in the sin of the golden calf, why would they need an atonement? Because idol worship effects everybody else, even those who were not involved. 

There is a unique law when it comes to idol worship. If there is a city that goes astray and serves false deities, if convicted (which has never happened), the law is that every man, woman and child in the city is to be put to death. Even though many of the people of the city may have not been involved, they still have the same tragic fate. We see from this that idol worship affects not only the Idolaters, but also others, the entire community. Therefore the women and children were also affected by the sin of the golden calf, and needed some sort of atonement. 

The half shekel was also an atonement for the sin of the golden calf. How come the half shekel was only obligatory for men 20 and up, while the donations to the Mishkan included everybody, men, women and children? 

We must conclude that there were two aspects to the atonement for the golden calf. The first was accomplished by the adult men through the half shekel, and the second was through all of the Jewish people, men, women and children. 

To understand this, let's take a deeper look at the sin of Idolatry. Idolatry doesn't mean that the person throws away the belief in Hashem (heaven forfend), rather it is the belief that there are powerful entities other than Him. On a deeper level, it is the belief that there is anything else but Hashem. 

The opposite of Idolatry, is the oneness of Hashem, the belief that "there is nothing other than Him," and as it says, that He is "G-d the world," and not "G-d of the world," which would mean that the world is an existence of its own, and He is the master of it, rather "G-d (is) the world," In other words, He is the only existence, and this whole world is but a ray of G-dliness. 

This way of thinking leads one to serve Hashem in the way that our sages call, "All of your actions should be for the sake of Heaven." Not that he makes sacrifices and gives up his own desires to do what Hashem wants, rather to begin with, he understands that all of existence is there because of Hashem, is a part of Hashem, and there is nothing but Hashem, therefore his only desire is to serve Him. 

And from there, one can take it a step further, as the verse says, that there is Hashem and "nothing else." The Alter Rebbe explains that it means that there isn't even something that is secondary, nothing that can be termed, "else." In truth nothing exists, there is only Hashem. This way of thinking leads one to serve Hashem in the way of, "Acknowledge Him in all your ways." Not only are your actions "for" Hashem, but you see Him in the most physical and the most mundane actions of your life, even they are holy. 

Now we can understand why the Mishkan is the atonement for the sin of the golden calf, because the idea of the Mishkan is that Hashem wants to dwell in each and every one of us, in that, we make a dwelling for Him in our mundane activities. And that is the reason that it is an atonement for Idolatry, because it shows the ultimate oneness of Hashem, and it is the complete and utter negation of Idolatry. 

There is an order to these steps. In order to reach the highest level of service, to "Acknowledge Him in all your ways," you first have to attain the level of, "All of your actions should be for the sake of Heaven." 

"All of your actions should be for the sake of Heaven," is the foundation that "Acknowledge Him in all your ways" is built on. 

The same is true about the atonement for the golden calf. There were two stages, first there was the half shekel that went to make the sockets that were the foundation for the Mishkan, that had to be given by the 600,000+ adult men, who were a representation of the Jewish people, and it was the men who were involved in the sin. Once that was done, then everyone was able to give, men, women and even children. 

If we are all affected by a sin like Idolatry, could you imagine how powerful the opposite is. If we make ourselves into a home for Hashem, it surely will affect our family, friends, the community and eventually, the whole world. 

This is the call to every Jewish person, man, woman and child, to make themselves into a home for Hashem, building up to the point that He is everything. This way, we will surely merit to have His presence dwell amongst us openly once again, in the third Temple, with the coming of Moshiach. May he come soon.